Blank-pressing machine.



M. W. OBRIEN. BLANK PRESSING MACHINE. APPLICATION, FILED APR. 15 1912.

Patented Aug. 6, 1912.

2 SHEETB-SHBET 1 coLUMBIA PLANOURAPH C0,,WASHINGTQN. D. c.

M. W. OBRIEN.

BLANK PRBSSING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED APR.15, 1912.

Patented Aug. 6, 1912.

2 SHEBTSSHBET 2.

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MICHAEL W. OBRIEN', OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK.

BLANK-PRESSING MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed April 15, 1912.

Patented Aug. 6, 1912. Serial No. 691,062.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, IVIIOHAEL W. OBRIEN, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Rochester, in the county of Monroe and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Blank- Pressing Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates particularly to machines for pressing and flattening the leather blanks used for the topliftsof shoe-heels, although the invention is applicable to blank-pressing machines used for various other purposes.

The object of the invention is to produce a machine which shall be simple and compact in construction, and at the same time rapid and efiicient in operation, and to this end I employ various features of construction which will be pointed out in the following description and claims.

In the accompanying drawingsz-Figure 1 is a-rear-elevation of a machine embodying the present invention; Fig. 2 is a plan-view, on a larger scale, of the mechanism for imparting intermittent rotation to the dieplate; Fig. 3 is a detail-view, in transverse section, of the movable pressing-member; Fig. 4 is a horizontal section on the line H in Fig. 1; and Fig. 5 is a vertical section on the line 55 in Fig. 4, looking from right to left in the latter figure.

The illustrated embodiment of the invention is a machine designed particularly for pressing and flattening top-lifts for shoeheels. The pressing instrumentalities com prise a lower, fiat, stationary member 10, which constitutes also the bed of the machine, and an upper, movable pressingmember in the form of a fiat plate 11. These pressing-members engage the opposite surfaces of the blank or top-lift.

The movable pressing-member 11 is sup ported by means of two stems 12 fixed in the plate near its ends, these stems sliding vertically through brackets 13 fixed to the bed of the machine. Springs 1.4 surrounding the stems and engaging, at their respective ends, the heads of the stems and the upper surfaces of the brackets, act to hold the plate 11 normally in raised posit-ion. The movement resulting from the action of these springs is limited, however, by means of stop-screws 15 adjustably threaded in the brackets and normally engaging the upper surface of the plate. By these means the movements of the plate may be adjusted to a minimum sufiicient to admit the blanks between the pressing-members, while eliminating unnecessary lost motion.

The movements of the pressing-member 11 toward the fixed pressing-member 10 are produced intermittently by a plunger 16, which slides vertically in a sleeve 17 fixed to the yoke-shaped frame 18 of the machine. The plunger is actuated by a pitman 19 em-- bracing, at its upper end, an eccentric 20. This eccentric is rotated by a horizontal drive-shaft 21. In order that the driveshaft may be throwninto and out of opera tion as required, it is provided with a clutch of which one member 22 is splined t0 the shaft, so that it may slide into and out of engagement with the corresponding clutchmember on a pulley-wheel 29. The pulley normally rotates freely on the shaft, and it may be connected, by a belt, with any suitable source of power. The wheel acts also as a fiy-wheel to furnish the momentum necessary to carry the machine smoothly through all portions of its cycle of movements.

The clutch-member 22 is operated by an arm 23 engaging an annular groove in the clutch-member. This arm is loosely pivoted, in turn, upon a shaft 24 which rotates and slides freely in bearings on the frame 18. A spring 25 normally tends to push the arm 23 and the shaft in a direction to engage the clutch-members. At the other end of the shaft, however, is fixed a handle 26 having a hub or boss provided with an inclined face which engages a correspondingly inclined face on the shaft-bearing 27 Accordingly, by turning the handle and the shaft, the inclined surfaces may be caused to move the shaft and the arm 23 horizontally, against the resistance of the spring 25, and thus disengage the clutch-members.

The blanks are introduced between the pressing-members 10 and 11, and removed therefrom, by means of a rotary member in the form of a die-plate 80. This plate is provided with openings 31 of the exact outline which is to be imparted to the top-lifts, the plate thus acting as a die as well as a feeding-member. The die-plate rests upon the surface of the bed 10, and is provided centrally with a boss into which is screwed the lower end of a vertical shaft 32, these parts being fixed securely together by a nut 33 also threaded on the shaft. The shaft has a bearing, at its lower end, in the bed 10, as shown in Fig. 5, while its upper portion is journaled in a bracket 33 projecting inwardly from the frame 18.

The shaft 32 is employed to impart intermittent partial rotations to the die-plate, and to this end it is connect-ed with the driveshaft 21 by means of a mechanism shown particularly in Figs. 1 and 2. On the upper end of the shaft 32 is fixed a star-wheel 34 having radial slots 35 in its lower surface. A stud 36 projects upwardly from the bracket 56, and upon this stud is journaled the hub 53 of an arm 37. The arm carries, near its end, a pin 38 which projects upwardly into position to engage the slots 35 in the star-wheel. A pinion 41 fixed to the upper end of the hub 53 meshes with a pinion l2 fixed to the power-shaft 21. At each rotation of the latter, accordingly, the arm 31 performs a rotation. During onequarter of this rotation the pin 38 is in engagement with one of the slots 35, so that a quarter-rotation is imparted to the shaft 32 and the die-plate 30. During the remainder of each rotation of the arm 37, however, the star-wheel and the parts connected therewith are locked against rotation by the action of a segmental disk 39 fixed to the hub 53. This disk engages, at this time, one or another of the curved recesses 10 between the arms of the star-wheel, thus acting in the manner of a Geneva stop-mechanism. The parts of the machine are so arranged as to cause the partial rotations of the dieplate to occur while the plunger 16 and the plate 11 are in raised position, while the dieplate dwells during the operation of the pressing-members.

As a convenient means for introducing blanks into the openings 31 of the die-plate the machine is provided with a hopper 43 adapted to contain a stack of blanks. This hopper is open at the front, for convenience in introducing the blanks, and it is supported, at its lower end, in a bracket 14;, which is fixed to the bed of the machine and overhangs the die-plate so as to bring the hopper directly above the position occupied successively by the openings 31 while the die-plate is at rest. Owing to this arrangement the stack of blanks is supported upon the smooth upper surface of the die-plate during the intermittent movements thereof. Each time the plate comes to rest the lowermost blank descends into one of the openings 31, and on the succeeding partial rotation of the dieplate this blank is carried, in said opening, into position between the pressing-members.

To remove the blanks automatically from the die-plate, after they have been pressed, I employ an ejector comprising an arm 46 fixed to a rock-shaft L7. This rock-shaft is journaled on the base of the machine, and is provided with a second arm 18 connected, by a pitman 49, with an eccentric 51 on the drive-shaft. Accordingly, at each operation of the machine the arm 16 is raised and lowered through an opening in the bed of the machine provided for that purpose, as shown 7 in Fig. 5. The inner end of the arm is pro vided with a fiat ,head 52 which is thus passed upwardly through one of the openings 31 in the die-plate, thus raising and dis charging the blank which has been pressed therein by the last previous movement of the pressing-members. The head 52 is fixed on the arm at such an angle that when it has raised the blank from the die-plate it occupies an inclined position,so that the blank will slide off from it rearwardly and away from the, dieplate, thus discharging the blanks at the rear of the machine.

The present machine, in addition to con- (lensing and shaping the material of the toplifts, has the function of flattening the material, which is usually more or less distorted by the operation of punching it. The blanks, when first introduced in the openings 31 in the die-plate, may not lie fiat therein, but are liable to project upwardly more or less. Accordingly, to insure the proper introduction of the blanks between the pressing-members, the movable pressingmember or plate, 11 is beveled or rounded, on its lower surface, as shown in Fig. 3, at the point where the blanks enter beneath it during the rotation of the die-plate.

My invention is not limited to the embodiment thereof hereinbefore described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, but may be embodied in various other forms within the nature of the invention as it is defined in the following claims.

I claim 1. A machine for pressing top-lift blanks having, in combination, a horizontal bed with a flat upper surface constituting a stationary pressing-member, a movable fiat pressing-member cotiperating therewith, a plunger for moving the latter member toward and from the stationary pressingmember, a drive-shaft journaled horizontally above the plunger and connected therewith by an eccentric mechanism to actuate the plunger, a die-plate rotatively mounted in horizontal position upon the bed and having a portion movable between the pressing-members, the die-plate being provided with a series of openings to receive blanks, a vertical shaft by which the die-plate is actuated, and gearing and stopmechanism connecting said vertical shaft and said drive-shaft and adapted to impart intermittent partial rotations to the dieplate at the intervals between successive operations of the pressing-members, the openings in the die-plate being spaced to bring one of said openings between the pressingmembers and arrest it while the pressing-members are 0 erating.

2. A machine for pressing top-1i t blanks having, in combination, a rotary horizontal die-plate provided with a series of blankreceiving openings, means for imparting intermittent partial rotations to the die-plate, upper and lower pressing-members having substantially flat surfaces adapted to engage the upper and lower surfaces of the blanks in said openings, means for imparting operative movements to said pressing-members while the die-plate is stationary, and an ejector for discharging the pressed blanks from the openings in the die-plate, said ejector comprising an arm pivotally mounted in position to engage the lower surface of a blank in one of the openings in the die-plate while the latter is stationary, the ejector having a flat head arranged at an angle so as to cause the blanks so discharged to slidehorizontally from the ejector, and mechanism for raising the ejector intermittently during the dwells in the movement of the die-plate.

in that position 3. A blank-pressing machine having, in combination, upper and lower pressingmembers with opposed substantially flat faces, mechanism for moving one of the said members toward and from the other, a dieplate rotatable between said members and perforated with a series of blank-receiving openings forming rigid lateral die-walls, mechanism for imparting intermittent partial rotations to the plate, alternating with the operating movements of the pressingmembers, to carry blanks successively to and away from the pressing members, a hopper located in position to discharge blanks into said openings successively before they move into position between the pressing-members, mechanism for discharging the pressed blanks from said openings successively after they leave the pressingmembers, and power-mechanism for actuating all of said mechanisms in timed cooperation.

MICHAEL W. OBRIEN. Witnesses L. THoN, C. W. CARROLL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

